emmalish

← Thanks, both of you! I'd never seen this instruction in a recipe before and was completely thrown. Especially since it's the only leavener listed. Like I said, I just whisked it in with my dry ingredients and it turned out fine. I'm not even sure it would be worth trying it the other way to compare. I'm happy with them as-is. (oh, and I'd definitely recommend the recipe – lovely combination of chocolate and spices)

Candy, I'm in awe. The presentation, the packaging and the photography are all gorgeous.

top chef airs on food network in canada? not bravo? ← I know, weird, eh? I don't think I've ever seen it on Bravo Canada's schedule, but FN picks it up. Except for the Christmas special (poo) it appears to be running on the same schedule.

I just made these cookies from an old issue of Martha Stewart. For the most part the recipe reads as I would expect a cookie recipe to read, but after creaming the butter and sugars, and whisking together all the dry ingredients (except for the baking soda), the recipe says: Why would the baking soda be activated prior to adding it to the recipe? It didn't make sense to me, so I skipped this step and whisked the baking soda in with the rest of the dry ingredients. The cookies turned out fine, as far as I'm concerned. Would they have been better had I followed this step? Has anyone ever seen similar instruction before? Is there a reason for it?

Doesn't look like it's airing on Food Network Canada – I just checked the schedule and it's an Iron Chef marathon all day. The next ep of Top Chef isn't until the 29th, and it's a repeat. That makes me sad.

There were a few that I like, but I looooove Tony Bennett's!

I just made a second batch – heated to the correct temp, thank you very much – and they're much better. Even a taste right off the beater is lighter and fluffier. The first batch tasted... off somehow. I've tossed them. Sorry guys, I wouldn't have felt right giving them away, and I didn't really want to eat them myself. Oh well. Lesson learned. Never try to make marshmallows late at night after a long day at work.

I'm thinking cooling for 2 hours causes the crisco to set up and adhere to the pan. I usually let cakes cool for just 10-15 minutes. Then I'll shake the pan from side to side until I feel the cake loosen and will turn it out.

Wow, it sounds to me like you're doing all the right things, and yet your cakes still stick? Do you let them rest and cool for a bit before turning them out? I find that if I try to turn them out of the pan too quickly they're more likely to stick. I use crisco and a dusting of flour. I've read here on the boards that the spray with the flour included is awesome, but I've never seen it in the stores so I haven't had a chance to try it. And I've also read here that butter isn't a good choice because its higher water content can cause things to stick. I'm interested to hear what the professionals have to say.

Well... they set up fine because of the gelatin, but they're kinda... chewy... I'm not crazy about the texture. And I'm making them specifically for gifts, so I'm going to start over. Ah well. Teach me to try to make them late at night. Oh, and Lior, it's "oh poo" (short for "oh poop") as in "oh crap" or "oh sh**"

Well, poo. I just made a batch of marshmallows – they're setting up as I type. But apparently I had an attack of dyslexia while I was heating the syrup and only went to 225°F instead of 252°F (per Peter Greweling's recipe). I didn't realize until after I'd finished whipping and pouring it into the pan and was putting things away. Does anyone know what kind of effect this will have on the finished marshmallows? Should I toss it now? Or do you think it will be okay?

Brilliant! I'm going to have to try that...

FOUR.... ← This will be my second crown. And I'm pretty sure I have more fillings than teeth at this point.

Erm... I'm going in for a crown this Friday after a huge chunk of one of my molars fell off a couple weeks ago (I've got a temp filling right now). I'm in total denial about it being candy-related. I'm pretty sure it's because of those crunchy vegetables.

Thanks, tsquare! I know! Didn't they use to show what everyone did in the quick fire? Or am I imagining that? I found it jarring that several people were completely skipped.

Of course! Hasn't this show also done a vending machine ingredients challenge and a convenience store ingredients challenge?

Awww, I was sorry to see Richard go last night. He seemed like such a sweet man. The smores, however, weren't a strong dish. What else did he do? Surely it wasn't just the one thing? Also, did anyone catch who did that vegan stuffing the judges were so happy with? I was surprised it didn't get mentioned at judging, unless I missed it...

I really like the teardrop shaped ones under combi moulds. I also love the way the categories are combined. Christmas & Easter makes sense... as do Flowers & Leaves and Hobby & Sport... but... Hearts & Bears?? Huh?

What area of Vancouver will you be in? Will you be mobile? Able to drive around? Or are you looking for places within a short distance of where you're staying?

This isn't a favourite – I just discovered it today – but while I wanted to share it with you all, I didn't think it warranted its own thread. KAMIKAZE COOKERY. The description from the blog reads in part: I watched the ep where they attempt a Gordon Ramsay recipe ( , youtube part 2). It's pretty horrific. As a non-professional who does understand a lot of cooking terms, it's really eye-opening to see someone who doesn't understand the reasoning behind a lot of the steps trying to figure out what the recipe means. Like when they had to look up "ramekin" on the internet to realize "oh, he means a dish... why doesn't he just say dish?"

I haven't done enough candymaking to have had many disasters... yet. I'm sure they'll come. The only thing I've done so far is try to heat some sugar to a certain temperature... and wait... and wait... and wait... and then realize that it's not registering because the tip of the digital probe thermometer isn't submerged enough. I didn't burn it, but what should have been a soft caramel was almost a hard candy. Whoops.

What?? I think some of us need to hear this story...

I'm sure the judges would have even been happy with quiche IF it had been done well. Their problem was that what she made was gummy (didn't one of the judges say it tasted like paste?). Just the fact that she used an interesting ingredient isn't enough if it isn't used well.

They're the same dough and the only difference is the chips? The ones on the right are much darker than the others though. Why is that? ← Sorry - I thought I had explained that - must have left it out. I had some Hershey Special Dark cocoa, but ran out. Those dark cookies were made the Special Dark - the medium ones are with a mix of half Special Dark and half regular, the lightest ones with all regular. I like the look of the dark, but honestly the flavor isn't that much different. ← Aha. I just googled and it sounds like the special dark is a dutch cocoa. Is the other cocoa you used dutch as well?

They're the same dough and the only difference is the chips? The ones on the right are much darker than the others though. Why is that?